Wednesday, October 5, 2011

The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is pleased to announce the creation of a new culinary-certificate program focusing on Latin Cuisines. The two-semester (30-week) program will welcome its first class of students on January 24, 2012, at the college's campus in San Antonio, Texas. The advanced program is for CIA graduates and other industry professionals with culinary-arts degrees or certificates.

Chef Sergio Remolina works with student Evan Martinez on the metate in the kitchen. As part of the CIA's new Latin Cuisines Certificate Program, students will have the opportunity to learn a wide variety of culinary techniques from Latin America and Mexico. Photo credit: CIA/Keith Ferris

The program provides a specialization in Latin American cuisines for those who already have a solid foundation in culinary arts from a previous associate degree, bachelor's degree or certificate in culinary arts. While the hands-on culinary classes will be unparalleled, the program is more than a “concentration” of classes on various Latin cuisines.

Students will learn from an expert team of faculty members that includes Elizabeth Johnson-Kosick and Iliana de le Vega, the CIA’s two full-time Latin-cuisines researchers based at the San Antonio campus. Kosick and de la Vega have spent years documenting and researching many of the traditional ingredients and techniques of Mexican and Latin American cooking through their extensive travels. The chefs will feature their knowledge in their course work, while the college also brings a wide array of special guest chefs to campus to teach, as well.

“Through this program, the CIA San Antonio will be a ‘Carnegie Hall’ of Latin cuisines,” says Dr. Tim Ryan, CMC, president of The Culinary Institute of America. “Visiting guest chefs will have a conservatory-style relationship with small groups of students, and teach them about the cuisines of countries such as Peru, Brazil and Mexico.”

In conjunction with the college’s expanded educational offerings, the CIA San Antonio will open a new pan-Latin full-service restaurant in early 2012 on the campus. Overlooking the San Antonio Riverwalk, the restaurant will serve as a classroom for CIA students, as well as a showcase for visiting Latin American chefs and a rare opportunity to experience the work of these chefs in the United States.

The Latin Cuisines Certificate Program joins the CIA’s Associate Degree in Culinary Arts Program already offered at the CIA San Antonio. Significant scholarships are available for both programs for students who qualify. To learn more, visit www.ciachef.edu/lccp.